My Dirk
by alisonleena
Summary: I look up expecting to see Kana or Hiro, but instead I see someone new. "Oh! Sorry!" he says and extends a hand out to help me up. I accept his hand and ask, "Are you new here?" **throws first ever fan fiction at you and runs off in the other direction as fast as humanly possible**
1. Chapter 1

**One**

"Oh!" I sigh in frustration. I throw my tools down and sit next to my crops in the shade they provide.

It's been a few months since I moved to Konohana, and is now the first official day of summer. I've been trying to force myself to enjoy growing crops… But I'd much rather be spending my time with my cow and chickens. However, the farms here in Konohana are centered around agriculture rather than animals.

I stand up, stretch, and glance at my watch: 11 a.m. I'd say that's close enough to lunchtime for me to take a break. First I'll stop by Kana's, then Dr. Ayame's, and then get lunch at Yun's Tea House.

As I'm leaving my farm I fumble through my bag to make sure I grabbed my wallet off the table. I always seem to be misplacing things… I was sure I put it in here this morning…

As I'm looking through my bag I suddenly bump into something hard causing me to lose my balance and fall backwards. I rub my forehead. "Oof… Watch where you're going…" I mumble to whatever I hit.

I look up expecting to see Kana or Hiro, but instead I see someone completely new. "Oh! Sorry!" he says and extends a hand out to help me up. I accept his hand and ask, "Are you new here?"

Now that I'm on my feet again I get a better look at him. He has light brown hair, green eyes, and he can't be more than an inch taller than me. I also notice his bag that seems to be very full of envelopes.

"Nope! Are you?" he asks.

"Not really… I moved here in spring, and I'm certain I've never seen you here before…" I say.

He laughs. "Well, I suppose not if you just moved here in spring. I went back home during spring, but I'm glad to be back in Konohana again," he says. I nod slowly.

"Anyways, I'm the mail carrier for both Konohana and Bluebell so I'm sure you'll be seeing me a lot from now on. I'm Dirk," he says.

"Oh, ok. I'm Lillian," I say.

He smiles. "Nice to meet you, Lillian,"

He looks down at his watch. "Oh! I can't be late delivering mail on my first day back! I'll see ya later!" he says, waves, and runs off towards Kana's house.

I give a small wave back and decide to skip visiting Kana for now. I would normally go see Kana first, since his house is directly on my way to Yun's Tea House, but I wouldn't want Dirk to think I'm following him… So I'll go see Hiro!

"Hiro~" I sing as I walk into the clinic. I peak my head around the corner of the clinic to see if he's with a patient, but all I see is Dr. Ayame sitting neatly at her desk. I offer her a quick wave and head upstairs to find Hiro.

I see Hiro completely engrossed in one of his medical books, as usual. I walk over and tap him on the shoulder. He jumps and drops the book he was reading. "Lillian! Don't sneak up on me like that…" he says frustrated. I quickly cover my mouth to hide my laughter.

"What are you doing today?" I ask him.

"Not much… It's Friday so…" he says.

"Oh good! Then you can eat lunch with me," I say.

Hiro smiles. "Ok, just let me grab-," he starts to say, but I quickly interrupt.

"No! No books today. If I don't get to stay home and read my novels all day then you don't get to bring your medical books to lunch," I say and drag him away from his bookshelf to Yun's.

"Hi Yun! Where's Ying?" I ask as Hiro and I enter Yun's shop.

Yun smiles, "Oh, she's with Rahi as usual."

I smile back, "Ah, should've known. Then will you give her this firefly for me? I found it in the mountains yesterday and thought she'd like it."

"Yes, of course," she answers.

I soon order my food and pick a shaded seat outside. Hiro follows and sits at the seat across from me.

"So… How's the clinic? And Dr. Ayame?" I ask him.

His eyes light up. "Oh wonderful! There was a traveler passing through that came in yesterday. He had fallen in the mountains and had this terrible injury that Dr. Ayame stitched up… It was a superb learning experience," he says.

I cringe at the thought of having to get stitches. They'd have to knock me out before I let anyone near me with a needle.

"How's the farm?" he asks.

I sigh, "Same as usual."

"Still struggling with your crops?" he asks.

I give him a warning look.

"Forget I asked," he says.

I watch Dirk run into the clinic. Normally I would assume that people running into the clinic would mean an emergency, but as he also ran into Kana's house the same way, I'm guessing he just runs a lot.

"So do you know this Dirk fellow?" I ask Hiro.

Hiro puts his spoon down and looks at me. "Yes, why?"

"Well… I mean… I just met him today and was wondering what he was like," I tell him.

"I don't know all that much about him, but he seems nice enough. He's usually very cheery. Keeps himself busy by delivering the mail for both Konohana and Bluebell," he says.

I nod once, twice, finish my food, and tell Hiro I have to go.

He looked like he had something else he wanted to tell me, but right now I need to go to Bluebell. I have to get fodder, chicken feed, and water my crops _again_ and put Bessy, Strips, and Wings back in the barn before sunset.


	2. Chapter 2

**Two**

I wake up to a knock on my door. What time is it? Why is someone here in the middle of the night? Wait… It's 8 am?! Crap, I over slept!

I put a sweatshirt on and run to the door, but when I open it the only thing I see is a fairly tall stack of envelopes sitting neatly on my doormat. I look around my farm and see Dirk walking back towards town.

"Hey Dirk!" I yell as I pick up the envelopes. Apparently I got a lot of mail recently… Although with the mail carrier on vacation I suppose mail would start to stack up.

I look up from the envelopes when I hear someone walking towards me. "Yeah?" he asks. His face is flushed, probably from running around delivering mail, but even so he still looks rather handsome. I quickly shake the thought from my mind. I don't have time for that! I have a farm to take care of.

"Oh… Um… Nothing much… I just saw you walking away and thought I'd say good morning," I say. I'm not entirely sure why I called out to him; I hardly know him. I don't suppose my brain is fully awake yet.

He gives a small laugh and points at my head, "Nice hair."

My hands immediately go up to my hair. I can feel strands going off in every direction. "Yeah, well, I did just wake up," I say, defensive of my hair.

"Really?" he says, "I thought farmers woke up earlier than this."

"Well, I normally do, but I guess I forgot to set my alarm last night," I say embarrassed. With one season already gone you'd think I would have gotten better at farming by now…

"Good thing I knocked on your door then!" he says, obviously very proud of himself.

I roll my eyes. "Yes, you're a load of help, now scram! I have to take care of Bessy or she'll go back to hating me," I say.

He looks oddly amused by what I said. "Bessy is…?" he asks.

"My cow," I tell him.

"Oh, ok," he says and glances down at his watch. "Well, I better go anyway, don't wanna be late!" he says then turns and runs back towards town.

Geez what's with this guy? Is he always in such a hurry?

I go back into the house, throw the mail on the dining room table, and put my boots on. Luckily Bessy, Strips, and Wings won't care if I show up wearing my pajamas and my hair an awful mess.

Once I got all my animals safely in the pasture and watered my crops I start for Kana's house. I never did go and visit him yesterday… Hopefully he isn't mad. I always go after my morning chores, but I didn't want to follow Dirk in so I never bothered going.

I try the door to his shop, but its locked as usual. I head towards the stables. I'm not sure why I bother checking the shop first anymore; he's always in the stables around this time anyway.

"How's Hayate?" I ask as I walk up to Kana and his horse.

"Pretty good. The warm weather in summer always helps with her arthritis," he answers.

He stops brushing Hayate and looks at me. "You met Dirk yesterday, yeah?" he asks.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" I ask.

"When he delivered my mail yesterday he asked about the new farmer girl, which by default meant you," he says.

I nod. So he asked about me… But I guess I asked Hiro about him too. It's probably a fairly common thing to ask about a person you just met… right?

"What'd you think of him?" he asks suddenly.

I frown. "I'm not sure. I don't really know enough about him to form an opinion. I mean, he seemed nice enough though," I say.

He nods. He seems to be thinking about something, but oh well. Kana is always off in his own horse-filled world anyways.

"Well, I should probably get going. I want Sheng to look at my watering can," I say. Maybe if I can get him to upgrade it my crops will start doing better. I should probably go get some fertilizer too…

"Good idea. We need your produce to be at its best for the cooking festival this month!" he says.

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, yeah. See ya later," I say as I leave Kana to finish taking care of Hayate.

As I'm leaving the stable I trip over something. I close my eyes and wait for impact, but when I feel something catch me I look up and see Dirk. Oh no, his face is much too close to my face… I feel my face grow hot as I search for something to say.

"You're quite clumsy aren't you?" he asks.

"I don't mean to be," I mumble and look in the other direction.

He laughs and sets me back on my feet. "How's Bessy?" he asks.

His question catches me off guard and I end up looking at him for a moment too long. "Um, she's fine… A little annoyed with me, but she'll get over it as long as I make sure to get her a treat."

He smiles and then looks behind me. "Hey Kana! Here's your mail," he says and walks towards him, nudging me in the arm with his elbow as he passes me.

As they begin talking I run off towards Sheng's house. I'm not sure what he'll be able to do for my watering can… But I'm willing to try anything to get these darn crops to be better quality!


	3. Chapter 3

**Three**

That night before I go to sleep, I make sure to set my alarm for 6 a.m. And all is well until about 3 a.m. I wake up in a cold sweat, breathing hard, and thinking too much about the nightmare that I just caused me to wake up so suddenly.

After trying to go back to sleep a few times, and failing, I decide there's no going back to sleep after a dream like that and get out of bed. I look out the window, but it's difficult to see anything when it's still completely dark. I get dressed and brush my hair.

I wonder if anyone else is awake yet… Doubtful at three in the morning, but that might also mean that it would be the perfect time for a walk around town. Plus a walk might calm me down.

I grab a flashlight and my bag and leave the house. As I walk towards town I begin to realize how different the town looks at night… Or, well, early morning.

It's a kind of pretty that you wouldn't see during the day. The moon lights the town just enough so that you can see where you're going and you'll occasionally bump into fireflies here and there.

I stop to admire the crops in front of Dirk's house. They're growing so much better than mine are… Mine look to be about a 1 star rank, but his… They must be either a 4 or 5.

As I'm looking at the crops I suddenly hear a voice say, "You're not here to ruin my award winning crops, are you?" causing me to jump about two feet backwards.

I take a deep breath trying to calm myself down. "No, just admiring them. What's your secret?" I ask.

"Oh that would be watering them at precisely 3 in the morning everyday," he says.

I look at him, appalled by what he just said. "You aren't serious, are you?" I ask.

He laughs. "No."

"Oh, thank goodness," I say relieved.

He gives me an odd look.

"Well, I mean no disrespect to Konohana's fascination with crops, but even if it means never winning the cooking or crop festival I am not going to get up at 3 everyday just to water some plants," I tell him.

He laughs again.

"So, if you aren't here to kill off my crops, what are you doing awake?" he asks.

I shrug my shoulders. "Couldn't sleep," I say.

He nods.

"Why are you still awake?" I ask.

"I dunno. I couldn't sleep either," he says.

I sigh.

"Want to come in and have some tea?" he asks.

I look at him and shake my head. "Oh, no, that's ok! I don't wanna be a bother! Besides, shouldn't you go to sleep? You'll regret not sleeping when you're having to deliver everyone's mail," I say.

"Hmm, I probably would, but today is my day off!" he says smiling.

"Ah, lucky…." I mumble.

"What?" he asks.

"I don't get days off," I whine.

He laughs. "Yeah, well, that's what you get for becoming a farmer," he says.

I sigh. "Yeah, yeah, I know. That's what Hiro and Kana always say too," I mumble.

He gives a small laugh. "Do you, um, like Hiro or Kana?" he asks.

I look at him. "What do you mean? Of course I like them, they're my friends," I say.

He frowns.

"Why? Don't you like them?" I ask.

He laughs and scratches the back of his head. "Yeah, that's not what I meant," he says.

"What did you mean then?" I ask, now curious.

"You know, suddenly I am getting really tired… I'd better go to sleep," he says and fakes a yawn.

I eye him suspiciously. "First you wouldn't tell me what your secret is to growing crops, and now this… What will you tell me?" I ask.

"Nothing," he says, flicks me in the forehead, and runs off to his house.

"Jerk," I mumble, rubbing my forehead, and head back towards my house.

****Author's Note****

**Um, so, as I mentioned before this is my first fanfic so I hope you all are liking it so far! I wasn't sure where to take this story after ch. 2... So I'm sorry if this chapter seems a bit out of place, and this is the first edit of ch. 3, so it may have a few mistakes here and there that will be edited out as I catch them. Also, this week is midterms so I'm not sure when I'll be able to write and post ch. 4, but hopefully I'll be able to soon. Oh, and one more thing! If any of you have an idea of where I should go with this story in the next few chapters let me know cause I'm a bit stumped and would love some ideas c: **


	4. Chapter 4

**Four**

It was now Thursday and I hadn't seen Dirk since Sunday morning. He always delivered my mail while I was in the barn taking care of Bessy and we never seemed to be visiting the same place at the same time. But that's fine, really, its not like I particularly want to see him or anything…

As I was walking back to Konohana from Bluebell I noticed that it was starting to get dark. I probably spent too much time talking to Laney and trying to decide what to eat at Howard's café. Ah! And now it's starting to rain too! Good thing I had put Bessy and my chickens back in the barn before heading to Bluebell.

I fumble through my bag trying to find my umbrella as it starts to rain harder. Oh no, did I take my umbrella out of my bag? It's probably in the storage box at home… Well who would have expected it to start raining in the middle of summer anyway?!

I suddenly feel the rain stop and I look up. An umbrella? I look next to me.

"Hello," Dirk says smiling.

"Hello," I say back.

"Going back to Konohana?" he asks.

"Yes," I answer.

"Well, let's go then," he says.

"Ok," I say.

I stand up and put my backpack back on. Geeze, how does he always manage to come at just the right time?

"What were you doing in Bluebell? Anything exciting?" Dirk asks.

"Not really, just went to visit Laney and eat at Howard's Café. He makes really good desserts, you know," I say thinking about the dreamy cake I just had.

"Hmm, I've heard that, but I'm more of a curry person," he says.

"Curry? Yuck, that's disgusting!" I say.

He looks at me in shock. "What?! You can't be serious. Who can hate curry?!" he asks.

"Well, me, I guess. I can't stand it! Even the smell is nasty," I say.

"How can you not like curry? You must be weird," he says.

"You're weirder…" I mumble.

He laughs.

We finally reach Konohana and Dirk stops walking.

"Um, well, thank you. You know, for walking with me and the, um, umbrella," I say.

He smiles, and starts to say something, but it gets drowned out by the rain that is now pouring.

"Um, you wanna come to my house until it stops raining?" he asks louder, pointing towards his house.

"Oh, no, that's ok! You probably have things you want to do," I say.

He sighs. "Oh, come on, like I have anything better to do. Besides, we only have one umbrella," he says and takes a large step backwards, causing the umbrella to go with him and me to get soaked by the rain.

"Ah!" I say and pull Dirk and the umbrella back towards me. Once I'm no longer getting rained on I realize I pulled Dirk much too close and I quickly let go of his arm. I look towards the ground and feel my face getting hot.

"Is that a yes then?" he asks, smiling.

"I… You…" I say frustrated, trying to think of an excuse, pause, and sigh. "Yeah, alright," I say.

We head towards his house and he opens the door for me. He shakes off the umbrella and water goes everywhere, but it hardly bothers me since I'm already drenched thanks to him. Well, and because I forgot my umbrella, but that's beside the point.

I look around at the inside of his house. It's pretty nice from what I can tell.

He puts the umbrella in a little bucket by the door, and hangs his carrier bag on a hook next to the door. He turns around, looks at me, and starts laughing.

"What?" I ask defensively.

"You're soaked," he says.

"And who's fault do you think that is?" I ask.

"Yours for not bringing an umbrella?" he asks smiling.

I start to say something, but I'm interrupted by some very loud thunder. I sigh. Why now? Couldn't it have waited to start raining and lightning until after I got home? I think the Harvest Goddess is just trying to make my life difficult.

Dirk completely ignores the lightning and thunder and walks into a different room.

"Where are you going?" I ask, not wanting to follow him in case he's headed to the bathroom or something of the sort.

"Hold on," he says.

I look around what seems to be his living room. I notice a picture of a younger Dirk and a guy that looks very similar to him. I can't help but smile at the picture. Dirk looks like such a little brat the way he's holding a peace sign behind the other man's head and the way he's sticking his tongue out at the camera.

Dirk interrupts my thinking when he comes back holding a very warm looking blanket.

"Here," he says handing it to me.

I slowly take the blanket from him, not entirely sure why he's handing me one.

"What? I just thought you'd be cold," he says.

"Oh, ok… Thank you," I say and put the blanket around me. I hadn't even noticed I was cold, but now that he mentioned it the blanket is nice.

"You can sit, you know," he says as he leaves the room again.

"Where are you going now?" I ask as I sit on a chair at one side of the table.

"To make tea," he says, as if it should have been completely obvious.

A few minutes later he comes in and hands me a cup of tea as he sits across from me at the other side of the table.

"Do you think its still raining?" I ask.

Before he can answer the thunder answers for him.

I sigh and snuggle deeper into the blanket.

"Are you still cold?" he asks.

"No, I'm fine," I say.

A few minutes of silence pass, and I desperately search for something to say. I end up saying the first thing that pops into my head. "Who's the man in the picture with you?" I ask.

He blinks once, twice. "What picture?" he asks.

"The on that table," I say and point at the little table by the front door.

"Oh, that one… That's my older brother Ivan," he says and smiles. It's a different smile than the one I normally see, sort of like he's remembering something funny.

"Do you miss him?" I ask.

He looks and me and smirks. "Nah, we talk all the time through letters and stuff," he says.

I nod.

"Speaking of letters… How come I'm always delivering all these letters to you, but you don't ever send any?" he asks.

I shrug. "Hey, are you entering the cooking contest tomorrow?" I ask.

He laughs. "Changing the subject?" he asks.

I nod.

He considers my question a moment. "Are you entering?" he asks.

I sigh. "Yeah… Ina would probably hunt me down otherwise," I say.

He nods. "Alright, then I'll enter," he says.

"Good," I say, "Because if Raul enters with another failed dish I might smack him."

"How do you know I'm any better?" he asks.

I lift up the cup of tea. "Well you made this, right? Its very good so I'm guessing you can make other things too," I say.

"I'll make it for you anytime," he says and winks at me.

I try to hold back a laugh, and fail.

"I'm serious, you know," he says.

"Ok," I say still smiling.

He laughs and looks down at his watch. He sighs. "If we're both entering the cooking contest tomorrow I should probably get you home now, right?" he says.

"What? You don't… I can get home by myself," I say.

"I know you _can_, but it's probably still raining and you don't have an umbrella," he says and stands up.

I stand up too and fold the blanket he lent me. I put it on the table next to my empty teacup and follow him to the front door.

He opens the front door and then opens the umbrella. Well, he was right, it's still raining. Hopefully it stops in time for tomorrow's festival.

He walks me to my front door and I turn to him before I go inside. "Thanks for the tea and walking me back," I say.

"Anytime," he says and kisses me on the cheek. He looks at me for a moment and then starts walking back towards his house.

What? I feel my face burning. Wait, what? I go inside my house. What just happened? Why did he do that?


	5. Chapter 5

**Five**

I give Ina my cooking festival entry and slowly walk up to the cooking festival, hoping not to be noticed by anyone just yet.

I'm sure I look absolutely awful. I got next to no sleep last night thanks to a certain somebody. I feel my face grow hot just at the thought of it. I'm sure I'm just overthinking this whole thing… Yeah, that must be it. It's probably completely normal for him. It's probably just what they do for a normal goodbye in his hometown.

I jump when I suddenly hear a voice say my name. I look up. Oh, its just Hiro.

"You entering today?" he asks.

"Yeah, are you?" I ask.

He shakes his head.

"Who is then?" I ask. Dirk said he was going to, but…

"I guess Yun and Dirk entered their dishes a little bit before you did," he says.

"Ooo, Yun is entering? We'll win for sure!" I say, thankful for the distraction.

Hiro laughs and says, "Yeah, and I heard Dirk's dish looked rather good as well."

I nod. "So as long as Howard and Laney aren't on Bluebell's team…" I say, remembering how badly we lost last time.

I hear Ina make the announcement that the cooking festival is about to start and my stomach does a somersault. Hiro pats me on the back and says, "Good luck!"

I walk up to the other contestants and stand next to Dirk. He looks at me and I offer him a nervous smile.

"We are so winning this thing," he says.

"How do you know?" I ask.

He points at the Bluebell contestants. I notice a very proud looking Cheryl holding a dish that resembles charcoal a bit too closely. I fight the sudden urge to laugh. Poor Rutger probably couldn't say no to Cheryl…

I take a deep breath as Pierre judges Konohana's dishes. He seems to appreciate my dish the least, but even mine he says is good.

When he moves onto Bluebell's dishes I can see him wanting to avoid Cheryl's dish, but as the judge he has to try them all. By the end of the tasting it's obvious who won, and the announcement is soon made: "Konohana wins!"

"Yes!" I say a bit too loudly, earning me a glare from Laney. I stick my tongue out at her. She laughs and walks up to me.

"Just be glad I didn't enter," she says.

"I am… You can thank your dad for not entering too," I say.

She laughs again. "Gotta let Konohana win sometimes, right?" she says.

I laugh. "Don't tell Rutger that, he'd probably have a cow!" I say while watching him and Ina have their usual cooking festival argument.

I see Dirk talking to Rahi and Ying. Its funny, he seems to fit in better with them than he does Kana and Hiro. I think he must notice me watching him because all of a sudden he looks at me and winks. I immediately look away.

I look at Laney. She gives me an odd look. "Are you blushing?" she asks.

"What? No," I say, trying my best to sound convincing.

"What were you looking at?" she asks.

"Nothing. You're imagining things," I say.

She crosses her arms and looks in the general direction of where I was looking a few seconds ago. "Wait… Don't tell me… Were you blushing because of Dirk?" she asks, her smile growing bigger as my face gets redder.

She squeals and smacks my arm. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? I could help," she says.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I say.

She frowns. "Oh come on, its obvious just watching you. I'm surprised Hiro and Kana haven't seemed to pick up on it yet," she says.

I'm about to ask why Kana or Hiro would even care, but I don't when I hear Dirk ask, "What's obvious?" from behind me.

Oh goodness, please oh _please_ tell me he just heard the very last bit of this conversation.

I glare a Laney. She smiles.

Laney looks at her wrist and says, "Oh, look at the time… I should really get going." She waves and begins walking towards her dad.

"You aren't even wearing a watch," I mumble as Laney walks off.

"You know, I think Rahi is quite jealous of you. Not that he'd ever admit it," Dirk says.

"What? Me? Why?" I ask.

"Because Ying keeps talking about all the fireflies you've caught for her and Rahi can't stay out that late to catch fireflies," he says.

"Hmm… In that case maybe I should start giving them to Rahi," I say.

He laughs. "That would probably fix it," he says.

I start to think of an excuse as to why I need to get home, but he interrupts my train of thought by pulling out an envelope from his bag. "Here, I found this in my bag… I guess it must have gotten stuck at the bottom," he says.

I take it and stick it in my backpack.

"Aren't you going to look who its from at least?" he asks.

"I'll look when I get home," I say.

He frowns.

"What?" I ask.

"Nothing," he says.

"Well, I should probably go," I say.

"Aw, don't get mad, I wasn't trying to be nosey or anything," he says.

"I'm not mad! I just have stuff to do. I didn't get much sleep last night so I didn't bother to water my crops this morning," I say.

"Really? Why not?" he asks smiling.

I blush. Oops, wrong person to admit that I didn't sleep well to.

"Well, I gotta go… See ya later!" I say and start walking towards my house.

I hear him laugh before he says, "Yeah, see ya later."


	6. Chapter 6

**Six**

It's been about a week since the cooking festival and you can clearly see the season changing from summer to fall. I've been harvesting crops all day and have finally stopped now that the sun is setting. I reluctantly walk to the barn to put Bessy and my chickens back in the barn. All I really want to do is go inside and eat dinner, but I should really put them in the barn before it gets any darker…

Bessy moos happily as I coax her into the barn with a cow treat. Once she's in the barn I give her the treat and go back outside for Strips and Wings. They're much easier to get in the barn since I can just pick them up. I set them in their pen and give them one treat each. I check that they all have food and water then walk towards my house.

When I get into my house I throw my backpack on the table and go to the refrigerator. I take out a jar of milk, half a watermelon, and a roll then sit down at the table.

I notice the envelope Dirk gave me at the cooking festival sticking out of my bag. I take it out. Oh, wonderful… Another letter from my sister. I crumble it up and throw it in the general direction of the trashcan. It ends up on the floor next to the trashcan. I'll pick it up later.

Once I'm finished with my food and my milk I decide I better to go sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day tilling the ground and planting fall seeds... I end up immediately falling asleep once I'm in bed and not waking up until my alarm goes off at 6 am.

As I'm about to leave the house I hear a knock on the door. I open it to find Ina and a tall man with very light blonde hair that I've never met.

"Hi Lillian, I just wanted to introduce you to Mikhail. He'll be staying at the town hall until summer," Ina says.

I nod.

"Its very nice to meet you Lillian. I hope we get along well," Mikhail says and smiles.

"Oh, um yeah, nice to meet you too," I say.

"Ok, we'll let you get back to your work. Talk to you later Lillian," Ina says.

"Alright, see ya later," I say as they both leave.

I close my door and go to put my boots on, but soon after I get them on I hear another knock on my door.

"What now…" I mumble as I get the door.

I open the door and see Dirk setting my mail on my doormat. For a moment I think my heart's stopped beating.

"You know," he says, "You should really get a mailbox already."

"And where am I supposed to find a mailbox for sale?" I ask.

"Hmm… I could get you one," he says, picking up the mail he had just set down and hands it to me.

"No, you don't have to do that!" I say shaking my head.

"I don't mind. Besides, I'd probably get in trouble if I left your mail on your porch during winter. It'd get completely ruined," he says.

He seems to notice something on the ground by my feet. I look down and see the envelope I through towards the trashcan earlier. I kick it out of sight.

He smirks and says, "Not that you'll read it anyways."

"Sorry, I… Um…" I say trying to think of an excuse and fail.

He laughs and says, "Why are you apologizing to me? I'm not the one who wrote that letter."

I decide to change the subject. "Have you met that Mikhail guy yet?" I ask.

"Huh? Well, yeah… He's not new around here, he just leaves every summer and comes back Fall 1st," he says.

I frown. So I'm still the newest person around here…

"Why?" he asks.

"Well Ina just brought him over and introduced him to me… Right before you got here, actually," I say.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" he asks suddenly.

Where did that question come from? Is this his attempt at small talk? "Um, I don't know, just the usual, I guess. You know, take care of my animals and the crops," I answer.

He smiles. "Well tomorrow's my day off… Wanna go on a date?"

…What? No, I couldn't have heard him right. Who would want to go on a date with me? I'm always covered in soil and barn dirt and I probably smell like a cow most days.

"A date?" I ask.

He nods.

"With me?" I ask.

He looks away. "Do you not want to?" he asks. I notice his face getting redder… Is he blushing? No way…

"O-ok," I say.

"Ok what?" he asks looking at me again.

"I'll go," I say.

He smiles, his face still a little red. "Great! I'll pick you up at 5," he says.

I nod.

He leaves.

What just happened?


	7. Chapter 7

**Seven**

After taking care of Bessy and the chickens I decide to skip buying seeds and go to Bluebell. It won't hurt to wait until the second day of fall to buy and plant seeds, right?

I get to Bluebell and walk directly to Howard's Café. I peak my head in through the door hoping Howard doesn't spot me. I normally enjoy talking to him, but right now I'm on a mission to talk with Laney.

I spot her cleaning a table near the door.

"Psst, Laney!" I whisper.

Laney stops cleaning and looks at me. I motion for her to come closer.

"What?" she whispers back.

"I need to talk to you…" I say quietly.

She nods and leaves to talk to her dad. She returns a few minutes later and says, "I told him I'm going to take my break, so we don't have very long."

"Ok, that's fine," I say. Now that I got here I'm not entirely sure I want to tell her what happened. What if I just imagined the entire scenario due to exhaustion?

"What is it?" Laney asks concerned.

"Um, its not a big deal or anything…" I say.

"Then just tell me," she says.

I look around to make sure no one is listening to us. Cam seems completely distracted by Ash and Cheryl at his flower shop and Georgia is busy taking care of her horses….

"Oh, just tell me already!" Laney says impatiently.

"Um, well, Dirk maybe kind of asked me on a date?" I say quietly.

Laney squeals and does a little happy dance.

"Shh!" I say when Cam, Ash, and Cheryl look at us.

"When is it?" she asks.

"Tomorrow?" I say.

She nods. "Are you excited?" she asks.

I frown.

"What? You aren't?" she asks.

"Help me!" I say.

"What can I do? I've never been on a date," she says.

That shocks me a little, but I let it go. "But… You grew up with Cam and Ash you've gotta know _something_," I say.

She makes a face. "You think I pay attention to what _they_ like in a girl?" she says, "I mean, I hope the best for them… But…"

I sigh. "Never mind," I mumble and start to walk away.

Laney grabs my shoulder to stop me. "Ok, ok, I'll try to help. What do you need to know?" she says.

"Everything," I say.

She laughs, "I can't help you with that."

"Just anything, something," I say.

"I don't know… What time are you going tomorrow?" she asks.

"He said five," I say.

"Ok, that should give you plenty of time to get all your work done, right?" she asks.

I nod.

"Then after you're done with everything go home and take a shower, because quite frankly, sometimes you smell like a barn," she gives me a look before continuing, "and then put a nice outfit on that you wouldn't normally wear… And maybe a little bit of make-up too?"

I nod again. I can do all that.

"Do you know what you guys are doing?" she asks.

"No idea," I say.

"Hmm… What if he tries to kiss you?" she asks smiling.

"What?! He won't!" I say.

She laughs. "You never know, I've been told boys only have one thing on their mind," she says.

"I'm going home," I mumble.

"Heehee, good luck! You have to tell me all about it on Monday!" she says.


	8. Chapter 8

**Eight**

I'm sitting on a chair staring at my front door. It's 5:05 p.m. He's five minutes late. I've been ready for about an hour now, and I've been staring at the door since. My stomach is completely filled with butterflies and my head is a mess and I have no clue how to act when he gets here.

At 5:10 I hear a knock on my door. My stomach does a somersault. _Just be cool. Be. Cool. _

I open my front door and see Dirk. I try to say hello, but somehow someway the words get lost when I notice how handsome he looks. Why is it that in casual clothes he gets to look even more handsome than usual and I'm stuck looking like a hobo in a dress?

I realize I've been staring at him for much longer than is polite and blood rushes to my face.

"I, uh…" I say trying to find something to say.

"You, um, look really pretty," he says. His face looks like it gets a little red when he says this, but I'm sure it's just my imagination.

"Um, you do too!" I say immediately.

He blinks twice and then laughs. "Thanks."

I look away, embarrassed.

"Ready?" he asks.

I nod.

We begin to walk and I realize I have no clue what we're going to do or where we're going. It's then that I notice that he's holding a picnic basket in one hand.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

He smiles a very handsome smile. The butterflies in my stomach seem to multiply.

"You'll see."

We eventually stop walking when we get near the bridge just past Yun's Tea House. He sits on a bench under an oak tree. He pats the seat next to him, obviously wanting me to sit there, so I do.

He sets the basket on his lap and looks at me, his face breaking out into a smile again.

"Did you know I worked at a café before I moved here?" he asks.

I shake my head.

"Well, I did, and I'm actually quite proud of my cooking skills," he says handing me a very nice looking sandwich.

I take a bite. Well… I must say; it's much better than anything I could have ever cooked.

"Well?" he asks.

"You have to enter all the cooking festivals from now on," I tell him.

He laughs. "I'm glad you like it."

I already knew his crops were better than mine, and now I learn that his cooking is much better than mine too. "Is there anything you _can't_ do?" I ask.

He gets an amused look on his face.

"Actually, I am incredibly bad with animals," he says.

I laugh. "You aren't serious, are you?" I ask.

He nods and tells me about this cat that wandered around his old town and I end up laughing throughout the entire story. "It hated me!" he says. "No matter how many times I tried to get it to come to me it just ran the other direction." He frowns recalling the event.

I laugh again. I have a hard time picturing anyone hating him, especially not any animal.

"I have a question for you," he says.

I nod. "Ok."

"Why, of all places, did you choose to move to Konohana?" he asks.

I frown. Because I needed a way out. The truth is I never really meant to become a farmer; I just sort of stumbled across it. Now I know that it was a good choice, but it was all just luck that I ended up here.

But, of course, that isn't what I tell him. I shrug. "I don't know, I just wanted a change, I guess."

He nods, but doesn't say anything. I think he's expecting me to say something more about it, but I don't. "Why'd you move here?" I ask.

"Ah, that's a very long story that I'm going to have to save for another day."

"What? Why?"

He stands up suddenly and holds out his hand. "Because it's time to go!"

…What? I slowly put my hand in his and stand up. "Where are we going now?"

He smiles his impossibly handsome smile again. "You'll see!"

I frown at him. Does _everything_ have to be a surprise today?

He laughs. "Very cute, but pouting won't make me tell you," he says and tugs on my hand so that I follow him.

He leads me up to the mountaintop where we're exactly in the middle of Bluebell and Konohana. "What are we doing here?" I ask.

"Come on," he says and pulls me by the hand to the mountain peak. It's nice up here; you can see all of Bluebell to the left and all of Konohana to the right.

"What are we doing here?" I ask again.

He looks down at his watch. "Well, in approximately ten minutes the sun will begin to set."

I look at him. "And then what?"

I'm surprised by how much effort he must have put in to come up with a plan for this date. He's had it all perfectly planned so far, even to where we make it here before the sun sets.

"Don't worry, the sunset isn't what we're here for," he says.

"Then what…?" I start to ask, but he interrupts.

"You'll see," he says for the millionth time today.

I roll my eyes and he lets go of my hand. I hadn't even realized we were still holding hands... I guess since we had been holding hands this whole time I had just gotten used to it.

He sits on the ground a few feet away from the mountain's cliff. He looks at me, smiles, and pats the ground next to him. I sit next to him.

"So you won't tell me why we're here?" I ask.

"Correct."

"Will you tell me how_ long_ we have to wait for whatever it is to happen?" I ask.

"Just until the sun sets."

"You're being very vague," I say.

He smiles.

A few minutes pass and the sun begins to set. The sky turns different colors. One by one you see the houses from both towns turn on their lights as the sky gets darker.

"Voila!" he says gesturing to both towns with his arms when the sun has finally set.

I look at the towns. They look so small from up here… It's a nice view though; you can see all the little houses lit up and smoke escaping from the chimneys. I glance at Dirk. He's smiling as he looks at the two towns. It's a very cute smile; he looks almost proud of himself for bringing me here.

He must notice me looking at him because he suddenly stops looking at the towns and looks at me. I quickly look back at the towns.

"Well?" he says.

"Well?" I say back.

He bumps my shoulder with his shoulder. "What do you think?" he asks.

"Very pretty," I say.

He laughs. "You sound unimpressed."

I shake my head. "No! Its not that, I'm just sort of wondering what made you think to bring me here of all places."

He shrugs. "I don't know… I was walking back from Bluebell yesterday while it looked just like this and I still hadn't been able to figure out what we should do today… I mean, I don't normally like climbing this gigantic hill if it isn't for work, but I figured if it was for you it'd be fun."

I smile and look down at my feet. "Thank you," I say quietly.

"…What? For what?"

I glance up at him, then back down at my feet. "Well… Today was a lot of fun. More than I thought it would be," I say.

I look back up at him. He's frowning. _Why is he frowning?_

"Hmm… I'm going to take that as a compliment, even that last part," he says.

It takes a moment, but I finally realize what I had said must have sounded like to him. "Oh, I didn't mean it like that!" I say quickly. "I just thought that I'd be too nervous the entire time to have any fun."

His frown quickly disappears. "Well, I'm very glad you had fun."

"You did too… Right?" I ask.

He laughs. "Of course _I_ did."

I nod. Thank goodness.

He looks at his watch, stands up, and once again offers me his hand. I take it and stand up as well.

"Well, probably time to head home. Gotta get up early for work tomorrow, right?" he says.

"Yeah…"

"Ok, I'll walk you home then."

And he does, all the way to my front door. I must have been more tired than I'd thought because when we get to my house I don't remember most of the walk here.

"So…" he says when we get to my front door.

"So…" I say back.

"Can I see you again?" he asks.

I smirk to try and hide my blush. "You deliver my mail, I think you'll see me fairly regularly."

He laughs. "You know what I mean."

I nod.

"Good," he says, kisses me on the forehead, and leaves.

**Ah, sorry if this isn't as good as you all were expecting! I had a terrible time trying to get over a severe case of writers block while writing this chapter. Also, there is probably a few grammatical errors since I'm posting this around 1:30 am and heaven knows its not the best time to proofread! I'll try to edit those out as soon as I see them. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter and I'll try to post the next chapter soon! **


	9. Chapter 9

**Nine**

I wake up completely exhausted. When I got home last night I immediately fell asleep; I didn't even bother to change into pajamas. Right now all I want to do is go back to sleep, but I promised Laney I would tell her about the date today… So once I've finished all my morning chores I'll head over to Bluebell.

As I leave my farm I notice Hiro walking back towards the clinic. He must have gone to get some herbs for Dr. Ayame.

"Hiro!" I yell loud enough for him to hear me and then wave once he sees me.

He sees me waving and jogs over to me.

"Hey, I haven't seen you in a while," he says.

I guess he's right… I used to go visit him all the time, but lately I haven't really been visiting him or Kana. I should probably start visiting them both more, especially Hiro. We used to go get lunch almost every Friday when he wasn't busy.

"Sorry! I've been… busy," I say.

He smiles. "That's alright! What are you doing today?"

"Going to go see Laney and then come back home to finish work."

He nods. "That's interesting…"

"…What is?" I ask. Nothing I said was all that interesting.

"I figured you'd be seeing a certain somebody today," he says. He looks like he's trying to hold back a laugh, and I'm starting to not like where this conversation is heading.

"I don't know what you mean," I tell him, trying my best to sound convincing.

"Oh… I just thought you'd be seeing Dirk today is all."

I glare at him. "Who told you?" I ask.

"Dr. Ayame," he says.

Ugh. I should've known. For a doctor who supposedly has everyone's best interests at heart she sure gossips a lot.

"Well… I should go see Laney so I can get back before dark. Try to keep Dr. Ayame's gossip to a minimum, ok?" I say. I try to make it sound like a joke, but I'm really hoping he'll be able to contain it a little. I don't mind Hiro finding out about Dirk, but everyone else is a different story…

He laughs. "I'll try. Come by the clinic soon, ok?"

I nod and start heading for Bluebell again.

Once I get to Bluebell I spot Laney watering the flowers outside the church.

"Whatchya doin?" I ask as I walk up to her.

She looks up from the flowers. "Cam asked me to water these for him…"

"Oh… I'm surprised he trusted you with the job…" I say.

"You know, I kind of am to…" she says and sets the watering can down.

She turns towards me. "Sooo?" she asks.

"So what?" I ask back.

"You know what! Tell me all about yesterday!" she says, smacking me in my arm.

"I... Ok… What do you want to know?" I ask.

"What did you guys do yesterday?"

"Well… We ate outside by the bridge, then went to the mountaintop, and then he walked me home," I shrug, "Nothing too exciting."

She stares at me.

"What…?" I say uncomfortably.

"Did he kiss you?" she asks.

Kiss me?! My face gets hot. That little forehead thing didn't count… Right?

A smile spreads across her face. "So you did?!"

"What?! No!" I say.

She frowns. "Then what was with that reaction?"

"It… It's a normal reaction to that kind of question," I say.

"Maybe normal for _you_," she mumbles.

I glare at her.

"So did he confess then?" she asks suddenly.

Confess? Well, no… Not exactly… I mean he asked me on a date and I accepted, but I guess that isn't technically a confession.

"No, I suppose not," I say. Should he have? I've never done anything like this before. I don't know what to expect and what not to expect…

"Did he say anything of the sort?" she asks.

"He asked if he could see me again after he walked me home… Does that count?" I ask.

She squeals and hits me in the arm again. "Yes! What did you say?"

I frown at her. "Why do you keep hitting me? I said yes…"

She rolls her eyes. "Did he say when?"

"No… He just sort of left afterwards," I say. I decide to not tell her about the whole him kissing me on the forehead thing. Just the thought of it is enough to make me blush…

She shrugs. "That's ok. I'm sure you'll bump into him soon enough."

I nod. I hope so…

"I have one more question and then we can go get a piece of one of my dad's cake, ok?" she says.

I nod again.

"Do you like him then? Like a lot?" she asks.

"I…" I start to answer, but then stop myself. I hadn't really thought about it yet. I guess I like him… I mean, I would think it's obvious… I get so nervous around him I can hardly think straight. I decide to just nod once again.

She rolls her eyes. "What are you? A mute?"

I frown. "Oh whatever… Lets just go eat some cake."


End file.
